Continuing Expenses for Dottie Nicholson

On March 2, I took Dottie to the ER, worried she might have appendicitis. Her abdomen was swollen and tender to the touch. She had a low fever. We got there and they ran some tests and did a sonogram. They saw a mass that worried them. They sent us via ambulance to Dell Children's Medical Center.

We got to Dell and they did a CT scan. It showed a tumor on her kidney that was the size of a grapefruit. On March 4, a MRI/MRV was performed on her abdomen to make sure the tumor had not grown into her veins. The results showed that the tumor had not spread, so surgery is scheduled for March 7 at 10 AM.

Dottie will be at Dell for at least the next week, and then they will start chemo.  

As anyone can imagine, living 2 hrs away from the hospital and having to travel back and forth, while still being there for our other children to help maintain as close to a normal routine as possible is taking a toll, physically, emotionally, and financially.  As such, working consistently is not possible and we are humbly reaching out for assistance during this very difficult time. Brett will go back to work in a week or so, but I am not sure I will return to my classroom this year.